U.S. patent number 8,761,154 [Application Number 11/274,453] was granted by the patent office on 2014-06-24 for methods and apparatuses to access advertisements through voice over internet protocol (voip) applications.
The grantee listed for this patent is Ebbe Altberg, Scott Faber, Ron Hirson, Sean Van der Linden. Invention is credited to Ebbe Altberg, Scott Faber, Ron Hirson, Sean Van der Linden.
United States Patent |
8,761,154 |
Altberg , et al. |
June 24, 2014 |
Methods and apparatuses to access advertisements through voice over
internet protocol (VoIP) applications
Abstract
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) terminals with integrated
user interface for accessing and/or managing advertisements that
provide telephonic contact information. In one embodiment, a method
includes: receiving a user input in a user interface of a VoIP
telephonic apparatus to specify one or more search terms;
submitting the one or more search terms from the telephonic
apparatus to a server; receiving one or more advertisements
containing one or more references to telephonic contact information
as a result of a search performed using the one or more search
terms; displaying the one or more advertisements in the user
interface of the VoIP telephonic apparatus; receiving a user
indication in the user interface of the VoIP telephonic apparatus
to call an advertiser of the one or more advertisements; and
initiating a telephonic call to the advertiser according to the one
or more advertisements using the VoIP telephonic apparatus.
Inventors: |
Altberg; Ebbe (Mill Valley,
CA), Faber; Scott (San Francisco, CA), Hirson; Ron
(San Francisco, CA), Van der Linden; Sean (Berkeley,
CA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Altberg; Ebbe
Faber; Scott
Hirson; Ron
Van der Linden; Sean |
Mill Valley
San Francisco
San Francisco
Berkeley |
CA
CA
CA
CA |
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Family
ID: |
37900429 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/274,453 |
Filed: |
November 14, 2005 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20070081662 A1 |
Apr 12, 2007 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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60721793 |
Sep 28, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
370/352 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M
7/006 (20130101); H04L 65/1069 (20130101); G06Q
30/02 (20130101); H04M 3/4878 (20130101); H04M
1/2535 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04L
12/66 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;370/352,401 ;455/414.1
;705/14 ;379/93.24,93.01,352 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
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03102738 |
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Dec 2003 |
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WO |
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Primary Examiner: Gay; Sonia
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Greenberg Traurig LLP
Parent Case Text
The present application claims the priority of Provisional U.S.
Patent Application Ser. No. 60/721,793 filed Sep. 28, 2005,
entitled "Methods and Apparatuses to Provide Advertisement
Information and Communication Links Using Voice Over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) Applications", which is hereby incorporated herein
by reference.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A telephonic apparatus, comprising: a user interface configured
to display an advertisement received from a connection server;
wherein the telephonic apparatus is configured to: retrieve, in
response to a request from a user of the telephonic apparatus, a
current version of the advertisement from the connection server,
wherein the advertisement includes one or more of an identifier for
the advertisement and an identifier for an advertiser of the
advertisement, and wherein the advertisement does not contain any
telephonic contact information for the advertiser; display the
advertisement via the user interface; receive, via the user
interface, a request from the user of the telephonic apparatus to
call the advertiser of the advertisement; and initiate, in response
to the request, a voice over internet protocol call to the
advertiser of the advertisement by transmitting, to the connection
server, telephonic contact information for the telephonic apparatus
along with the identifier of the advertiser or the identifier of
the advertisement.
2. The telephonic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the telephonic
apparatus is one of: a wireless mobile phone; a cellular phone; a
voice over internet protocol phone; a Bluetooth phone; a universal
serial bus phone; a personal digital assistant; and a handheld
computer.
3. The telephonic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the advertisement
is displayed in response to at least one search term submitted from
the user interface to search one of yellow page information and a
listing of services provided over a telephonic connection.
4. The telephonic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the telephonic
apparatus communicates with the connection server through an
application program interface of the connection server to retrieve
the advertisement and to retrieve updated information for the
advertisement.
5. A method, comprising: displaying, via a user interface of a
telephonic apparatus, an advertisement received from a connection
server; retrieving, via the telephonic apparatus and in response to
a request from a user of the telephonic apparatus, a current
version of the advertisement from the connection server, wherein
the advertisement includes one or more of an identifier for the
advertisement and an identifier for an advertiser of the
advertisement, and wherein the advertisement does not contain any
telephonic contact information for the advertiser; receiving, via
the user interface, a request from the user of the telephonic
apparatus to call the advertiser of the advertisement; and
initiating, via the telephonic apparatus and in response to the
request, a voice over internet protocol call to the advertiser of
the advertisement by transmitting, to the connection server,
telephonic contact information for the telephonic apparatus along
with the identifier of the advertiser or the identifier of the
advertisement.
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: retrieving, via the
telephonic apparatus, the current version of the advertisement from
the connection server in response to contact information of the
advertiser of the advertisement being requested by the user of the
telephonic apparatus.
7. The method of claim 5, further comprising: transmitting, via the
telephonic apparatus, information about the voice over internet
protocol call with the advertiser to a remote server after a
successful connection between the telephonic apparatus and the
advertiser.
8. A tangible non-transitory computer readable medium storing
instructions that, when executed by a telephonic apparatus, cause
the telephonic apparatus to: retrieve, in response to a request
from a user of the telephonic apparatus, a current version of an
advertisement from a connection server, wherein the advertisement
includes one or more of an identifier for the advertisement and an
identifier for an advertiser of the advertisement, and wherein the
advertisement does not contain any telephonic contact information
for the advertiser; display the advertisement via a user interface
of the telephonic apparatus; initiate, via the telephonic
apparatus, a voice over internet protocol call to the advertiser of
the advertisement by transmitting, to the connection server,
telephonic contact information for the telephonic apparatus along
with the identifier of the advertiser or the identifier of the
advertisement.
9. The telephonic apparatus of claim 1, wherein displaying the
advertisement includes displaying a selectable icon via the user
interface, and wherein the user makes the request to call the
advertiser by selecting the icon.
10. The method of claim 5, wherein displaying the advertisement
includes displaying a selectable icon via the user interface, and
wherein the user makes the request to call the advertiser by
selecting the icon.
11. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein displaying the
advertisement includes displaying a selectable icon via the user
interface, and wherein the user makes the request to call the
advertiser by selecting the icon.
12. The telephonic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the telephonic
apparatus is further configured to display, via the user interface
and during the call between the user and the advertiser, a duration
of the call, a logo for the advertiser, and a per-minute price
charged to the user.
13. The method of claim 5, further comprising displaying, via the
user interface of the telephonic apparatus and during the call
between the user and the advertiser, a duration of the call, a logo
for the advertiser, and a per-minute price charged to the user.
14. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the medium
further stores instructions to cause the telephonic apparatus to
display, via the user interface of the telephonic apparatus and
during the call between the user and the advertiser, a duration of
the call, a logo for the advertiser, and a per-minute price charged
to the user.
15. The telephonic apparatus of claim 12, wherein the telephonic
apparatus is further configured to display, via the user interface
and during the call between the user and the advertiser, a balance
of an account used to pay for the per-minute charges for the call
between the user and the advertiser.
16. The method of claim 5, further comprising displaying, via the
user interface and during the call between the user and the
advertiser, a balance of an account used to pay for the per-minute
charges for the call between the user and the advertiser.
17. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the medium
further stores instructions to cause the telephonic apparatus to
display, via the user interface and during the call between the
user and the advertiser, a balance of an account used to pay for
the per-minute charges for the call between the user and the
advertiser.
18. The telephonic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the advertisement
is presented on behalf of a group of advertisers, and wherein the
telephonic apparatus is further configured to present the user,
after the user initiates the call and via the user interface, an
option to select one of the advertisers from the group of
advertisers that the user wishes to call.
19. The method of claim 5, wherein the advertisement is presented
on behalf of a group of advertisers, and wherein the method further
includes presenting the user, after the user initiates the call and
via the user interface, an option to select one of the advertisers
from the group of advertisers that the user wishes to call.
20. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the
advertisement is presented on behalf of a group of advertisers, and
wherein the medium further stores instructions to cause the
telephonic apparatus to present the user, after the user initiates
the call and via the user interface, an option to select one of the
advertisers from the group of advertisers that the user wishes to
call.
Description
TECHNOLOGY FIELD
At least some embodiments of the present invention relate to user
interface techniques in telephonic apparatuses, such as terminals
of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) applications.
BACKGROUND
Traditional land-line based telephone systems connect one telephone
set to another through one or more switching centers, operated by
one or more telephone companies, over a land-line based telephone
network. Traditionally, a telephone connection is based on a
circuit switched network. To make a telephone connection, a
dedicated circuit or channel is set up for the call between two
telephone sets to allow the signal transmission on the dedicated
channel during the phone call.
Advanced telephone systems may also use a packet switched network
for a telephone connection. A packet switched network is typical in
a computer data environment, in which data packets are individually
routed over data links that might be shared by many other data
communication devices.
Recent developments in the field of Voice over IP (VOIP) allow the
delivery of voice information using the Internet Protocol, in which
voice information is packaged in a digital form in discrete packets
rather than in the traditional circuit-committed protocols of the
public switched telephone network (PSTN).
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) based telephone calls can be
transmitted through a broadband Internet connection instead of a
regular (or analog) phone line. Some VoIP services only allow a
user to call other people using the same service, but others may
allow a user to call anyone who has a telephone number, such as
local, long distance, mobile, and international numbers. Typically,
a VoIP telephone call is made on a terminal connected to a data
communication network, such as a computer that runs a VoIP
application on a network connection (e.g., DSL or local area
network), a stand alone VoIP phone connected to a communication
network, or a traditional phone with an adaptor connected to a
network connection.
In a typical VoIP communication, an Analog to Digital Converter
(ADC) converts analog voice signal to digital data, which is sent
through a data transmission network in data packets in a compressed
format using Internet Protocol. At the receiving side, the received
data packets are disassembled for the extraction of the digital
data. A digital to analog converter (DAC) then converts the digital
data back to analog voice signal.
Cellular networks allow a cellular phone to connect to a nearby
cellular base station through an air interface for wireless access
to a telephone network. Recent developments in wireless telephone
systems allow not only voice communications but also data
communications. For example, cellular phones can now receive and
send short messages through a Short Message Service (SMS). Web
pages can now be retrieved through wireless cellular links and
displayed on cellular phones. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
has been developed to overcome the constraints of relatively slow
and intermittent nature of wireless links to access information
similar or identical to World Wide Web.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not
limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which
like references indicate similar elements.
FIGS. 1-3 illustrate screen images of a VoIP application for
accessing an advertiser according to embodiments of the present
invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface to manage telephonic contact
information according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates a user interface to manage an advertisement
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 6-8 illustrate screen images of a VoIP application for
accessing a service provided over a telephone connection according
to embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface to manage telephonic contact
information of service providers according to one embodiment of the
present invention.
FIGS. 10-11 illustrate screen images of a VoIP application for
managing advertisements according to embodiments of the present
invention.
FIG. 12 illustrates a system to display and manage advertisements
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 illustrates a method to display advertisements according to
one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 illustrates a further method to display advertisements
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 15 shows a method to manage an advertisement according to one
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 16 shows a method to manage telephonic contact information
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 17 shows a block diagram example of a data processing system
which used with the present invention.
SUMMARY
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) terminals with integrated user
interface for accessing and/or managing advertisements that provide
telephonic contact information are described herein. In one
embodiment, a method includes: receiving a user input in a user
interface of a VoIP telephonic apparatus to specify one or more
search terms; submitting the one or more search terms from the
telephonic apparatus to a server; receiving one or more
advertisements containing one or more references to telephonic
contact information as a result of a search performed using the one
or more search terms; displaying the one or more advertisements in
the user interface of the VoIP telephonic apparatus; receiving a
user indication in the user interface of the VoIP telephonic
apparatus to call an advertiser of the one or more advertisements;
and initiating a telephonic call to the advertiser according to the
one or more advertisements using the VoIP telephonic apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following description and drawings are illustrative of the
invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.
Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough
understanding of the present invention. However, in certain
instances, well known or conventional details are not described in
order to avoid obscuring the description. References to one or an
embodiment in the present disclosure can be, but not necessarily
are, references to the same embodiment; and, such references mean
at least one.
At least one embodiment of the present invention seeks to integrate
the user interface for accessing and/or managing advertisements
that provide telephonic contact information into Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) terminals.
In the present application, the term "advertisement" may refer to
various different forms of presentations to attract attention or
patronage. An advertisement may be simply a listing of identity and
contact information (e.g., in a web page, a print media, a
telephonic listing service, etc.), or a passage including one or
more statements about business offering, etc., or a banner with
graphical content and/or animation embedded in a web page, or a
voice message presented in a voice channel (e.g., radio
broadcasting, a voice portal with Interactive Voice Response (IVR),
which may-accept user input through voice recognition or through
keypad input generated Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signals),
or others.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a VoIP terminal
includes a user interface from which a user can make telephonic
connections via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). In one
embodiment, the user interface includes a graphical user
interface.
FIGS. 1-3 illustrate screen images of a VoIP application for
accessing an advertiser according to embodiments of the present
invention.
For example, a user may select a "Contacts" tab (101) to display
contact information maintained for the user of the VoIP terminal. A
contact information entry can include a phone number or a user ID
for the VoIP application. Using the VoIP application on the
computing/communication device (e.g., a personal computer, a palm
top computer, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant
(PDA), or a special purpose device, such as a VoIP compatible
phone, etc.), the user can make a telephonic connection to a remote
user. The remote user may use a landline phone, a mobile phone, or
a VoIP application (e.g., a personal computer, a palm top computer,
a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a
special purpose device)
The user may select a "Dial" tab (103) to directly enter the
information (e.g., the ID of the remote user for the VoIP
application, or the phone number of the remote user) for "dialing"
the VoIP call.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the graphical user
interface further includes a tab to perform a search, such as in a
"Yellow Pages" tab (105) illustrated in the example screen image of
FIG. 1. In the example image, the user can input key words (e.g.,
"Mortgage brokers") in the entry box (111) under the label "search
for" to perform a search for a specific category. In the entry box
(113) under the label "In:", the user can input the information
about the specific geographic area (e.g., "Dallas, Tex."). For
example, a keyword to category algorithm queried with service area
returns relevant advertisers, such as "Mortgage Loans in Texas"
(121), "Equity Concepts, Inc." (123), "National Mortgage Broker
& Bank" (125), etc.
In one embodiment, the advertisers are served based on the amount
of bids the advertisers placed on the "Yellow Page Advertisements".
For example, the highest bidders matching the search criteria are
displayed above and/or before other bidders matching the search
criteria are displayed.
When an advertisement entry (e.g., "Mortgage Loans in Texas") (121)
is selected, the entry is expanded to reveal more advertisement
message for the advertiser (e.g., "Refinance and save even with
damaged credit! Get Cash For Any Reason!" (115)). In one
embodiment, the expanded entry includes a phone icon (119) which
can be selected to initiate a VoIP telephonic connection with the
advertiser using the VoIP application. The user may also use the
main phone icon (131) to initiate the call to the phone number
associated with the selected, expanded entry. The VoIP telephonic
connection may be made to a regular landline phone, or a mobile
phone, or VoIP terminal. For example, the VoIP telephonic
connection may be made through a VoIP application to a phone over a
landline, over a cellular communication line to a cellular phone,
or over a data communication link (e.g., Internet) to another VoIP
application.
In one embodiment, during the phone call the VoIP application
displays the call duration (143) and other information about the
advertiser, such as the logo (141) of the advertiser, the pricing
information of the advertiser, etc., as illustrated in the screen
image of FIG. 2. In one embodiment, the advertiser charges the user
of the VoIP application with a per minute price, which is displayed
during the phone call. Alternatively, the advertiser pays the
operator of the VoIP application and/or the advertisement provider
(distributor) based on a pay per call price bid; and the pay per
call price bid is displayed. In one embodiment, the user interface
displays the balance of an account which can be used to pay for the
charges related to the call.
In one embodiment, the consumer calls the advertiser using the VoIP
application. The phone call is connected to a phone connection
server (e.g., of an advertisement provider, which may be the same
as, or different from, the service provider of the VoIP
application). The phone connection server further connects the
phone call to the advertiser. In one embodiment, a separate phone
call is placed to the advertiser; and the phone call from the
consumer is connected with the phone call with the advertiser.
In one embodiment, the consumer's request to call the advertiser is
transmitted to a phone connection server, which makes separate
calls to the consumer and the advertiser and joins the separate
calls to connect the consumer and the advertiser.
In one embodiment, the VoIP application system determines the
communication parameters for the devices of the caller and the
callee. Using the communication parameters, the VoIP application on
the caller's device and the VoIP application on the callee's device
can directly make a communication connection for the VoIP call. In
one embodiment, at least one of the VoIP applications is programmed
to report the duration of the call to a server which records the
call duration. In one embodiment, the online presence
information/availability status of the VoIP applications on the
network is relayed on a distributed, decentralized network to avoid
the use of a central server. Alternatively, a centralized server
may be used to facilitate the connections.
In one embodiment, the phone connection server prevents the
consumer and the advertiser from gaining information about the
other party from the phone connection. The advertiser is not
provided with the telephonic information about the consumer (e.g.,
the VoIP user ID of the consumer, a phone number of the consumer)
in making the phone connection; and the consumer is not provided
with the telephonic information about the advertiser (e.g., the
VoIP user ID of the advertiser, a phone number of the advertiser).
Thus, anonymity of the call is maintained (if the advertiser and
the consumer do not reveal their telephonic information during the
conversation).
In one embodiment, the advertisement provider/distributor charges
the advertiser based on the advertiser's current bid for the phone
lead in the category and service area that matches the search
submitted by the user of the VoIP application. A caller algorithm
of the advertisement provider prevents multiple charges. For
example, if calls to the advertisement provider from the user of
the VoIP application is within a certain time window, such as an
hour, a day or a week, these calls may be considered as providing
the same phone lead to the advertiser; and the advertiser is
charged for only one phone lead.
In one embodiment, a fraud detection system is deployed for the
advertisement provider to detect the abuse of the system. For
example, the system may detect and stop the use of pay per call
advertisement bids as a way to obtain long distance phone calls to
a landline phone or a mobile phone.
In one embodiment, the telephonic information about the advertiser
is provided to the VoIP application indirectly. For example,
instead of providing the regular business phone numbers of the
advertiser (e.g., for landline phones or mobile phones), the
advertisement provider embeds in the advertisement a phone number,
or a reference to the phone number (e.g., a user ID of the VoIP
application system) that can be used to reach the phone connection
center of the advertisement provider. When the telephonic
connection to the advertiser is initiated by the user of the VoIP
application, the VoIP application connects to the call connection
server, which looks up the contact information of the advertiser
and further connects the call to the advertiser. In one example,
the call connection server may obtain the phone number of a
landline phone or a mobile phone, make a call to the phone number
of the advertiser (e.g., partially through a VoIP connection, or
through a traditional telephonic connection), and join the call to
the advertiser and the call from the user to make the connection.
In another example, the call connection server may obtain a VoIP
user ID of the advertiser, make a VoIP connection to the
advertiser, and join the VoIP connections to connect the advertiser
and the user.
In one embodiment, the advertisement provider assigns different
phone numbers, or VoIP user IDs, to different advertisements and/or
different advertisers for the connection center so that the
connection center can look up the telephonic contact information
for the corresponding advertisements and/or advertisers. The
differences in the phone numbers for different advertisements
and/or different advertisers may be in the main phone number
(dialed before a connection to the connection center is made), or
in the extension of the phone number (dialed after a connection to
the connection center is made).
In one embodiment, the connection server of the advertisement
provider is integrated with the server of VoIP application. The
advertisement contains an ID similar to, or corresponding to, a
VoIP user ID. When the server of the VoIP application receives the
ID of the advertisement in response to the user's request to
telephonically connect to the advertiser (e.g., when a button or a
link is selected by the user, the request for a connection is
generated; and the ID of the advertisement embedded in the
advertisement is automatically transmitted to the server by the
VoIP application), the server of the VoIP application looks up the
contact information (e.g., the phone number, or the VoIP user ID of
the advertiser, etc.) from the advertisement database to connect
the phone call to the advertiser in a way similar to that the
connection center connects the caller and the advertiser.
In one embodiment, when the user inputs a request to initiate the
phone call, the VoIP user ID of the user (or the equivalent
information for making a VoIP connection to the user) is
transmitted to the connection center together with a reference to
the advertiser and/or the advertisement. The connection center then
starts the VoIP connection to the VoIP application of the user and
a separate connection to the advertiser. The connections are joined
to connect the user and the advertiser. The separate connection to
the advertiser may be via VoIP, or via regular circuit switched
call, or via VoIP for part of the transmission path and via a
circuit switched network for the remaining part of the transmission
path.
In one embodiment, the expanded entry further includes an
information icon (e.g., 117 in FIG. 1), which can be selected to
provide a profile page about the advertiser, as illustrated in the
example screen image (151) shown in FIG. 3. For example, the
profile page may include the business hours (153) of the
advertiser, a description (155) of the advertiser, payment methods
(157) accepted by the advertiser for purchasing products/services,
categories (159) under which the advertiser is listed, a map (161)
showing the location near the advertiser, and/or a link to view map
details about the location near the advertiser, etc.
FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface to manage telephonic contact
information according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
In one embodiment, the entry of the advertiser can be added to the
contact collection of the user of the VoIP application. For
example, the advertiser being called can be automatically added to
the group of "Yellow Page Contacts" (171). Alternatively, a menu
item (or a button, or a link) can be presented to add the selected
advertiser to the contact list.
In one embodiment, an entry in the "Yellow Page Contacts" (171)
includes the name (e.g., 173) and address (e.g., 175) of the
advertiser. When the entry (e.g., "Mortgage Loans in Texas") is
selected, an expanded view (177) of the entry is displayed in a way
an expanded view is displayed for a selected entry in the search
results (e.g., 121).
In one embodiment, the advertisement for the contact in the "Yellow
Page Contacts" is stored/cached locally with the data of the VoIP
application. Alternatively, the current advertisement is retrieved
from the advertisement provider when the entry is selected. The
retrieval of the advertisement may be based on an identifier of the
advertiser, a reference to the advertisement, or based on a search
performed using retained information about the advertiser.
In one embodiment, the advertiser's telephonic information is not
displayed on the VoIP application. In one embodiment, the
telephonic information, or a reference to the telephonic
information, is stored in the VoIP application so that the user can
use the VoIP application to call the advertiser only through the
VoIP application.
In one embodiment, a telephonic contact information assigned to the
advertiser may be displayed to the user of the VoIP application.
The telephonic contact information provided in the advertisement
can be used on other telephonic appliances, such as a landline
phone, a mobile phone, or dialed directly using the VoIP
application.
For example, the phone number listed in the advertisement for the
advertiser is assigned to the advertiser by the phone connection
server. When the phone number is called (e.g., using a landline
phone, a mobile phone, or a VoIP application), the telephonic
connection is established between the consumer and the phone
connection server before connecting to the advertiser. The phone
connection server looks up the telephonic contact information of
the advertiser based on the phone number dialed (and/or the
extension dialed after the connection to the phone connection
server is established). The phone connection server then joins the
two calls to connect the consumer and the advertiser.
In one embodiment, the telephone information listed in the
advertisement is a VoIP user ID for the phone connection server,
which looks up the telephonic contact information of the advertiser
based on the VoIP user ID "dialed" (and/or "extension" dialed after
the connection to the phone connection server is established, or
parameters submitted when the VoIP call is placed).
In one embodiment, an entry of advertisement/contact is presented
on behalf of a group of advertisers (or different offices of an
advertiser). After the user initiates the call based on such an
entry of advertisement/contact, the user is presented with options
to select one of the advertisers (or one of the offices). The
options can be presented through voice prompt after the telephonic
connection is initiated, or through a graphical user interface.
Alternatively, or in combination, the selection based on geographic
region may be performed based on an automatic determination of the
location of the VoIP application (e.g., through cellular position
determination, a GPS system, etc.)
In one embodiment, the user of the VoIP application can also use
the VoIP application to manage advertisement(s) submitted to the
advertisement provider, as illustrated in FIG. 5. For example, when
a tab "My Advertisement Info" (181) is selected (e.g., after the
"Become a Yellow Page Advertiser" link (107) in FIG. 1 is
selected), a graphical user interface for managing the
advertisement of the user is displayed, as illustrated in the
example screen image (180).
For example, the user may specify the amount of price per call bid
(183) (e.g., "$3.00") in the user interface. The user may further
specify/modify the categories (185), service areas (187),
description of the advertisement (189), payment methods (191), logo
(193), business location (195), etc.
In one embodiment, the business information is collected to present
within the advertisement and within the advertiser profile page. In
one embodiment, business information and pay per call bid are
retrieved from the advertisement database for editing after the
user signs into the VoIP application system. In one embodiment, the
VoIP user ID of the system is used to identify the advertiser; and
the successful authentication in the VoIP application system allows
the user to access the advertisement database. Alternatively,
separate authentication operations are performed for the VoIP
application system and the advertisement database.
In one embodiment, the VoIP application uses the application
program interface (API) of the advertisement provider (e.g.,
Ingenio) to create listings within the VoIP application.
FIGS. 6-8 illustrate screen images of a VoIP application for
accessing a service provided over a telephone connection according
to embodiments of the present invention.
Similar to searching pay per call advertisers (e.g., according to
service category and/or service area), a user of the VoIP may also
search advisors using the VoIP application (e.g., after selecting
the "Get Answers" tab (201) in the example image). For example, the
user may enter one or more key words (e.g., "Excel") in the search
box (203) to indicate the requirement for the desired advisors.
In one embodiment, the advisors set their own rates for providing
services, such as advice, entertainment, celebrity conversations or
other types of paid access, over the telephone link. The search
result of the advisors may include entries of advisors. In one
embodiment, when expanded an advisor entry shows a photo image
(211) of the advisor, a description (213) of the expertise of the
advisor, the rating (215) based on the experience of prior activity
of the advisor, the price (217), etc.
In one embodiment, the expanded entry further includes an
information icon (219), which can be selected to provide a profile
page about the advisor, as illustrated in the example image (221).
For example, the profile page may include the expertise (223) of
the advisor, the rate (225), a detailed description (227), and
previous consumer feedback information (229), such as rating (231),
comments (233), etc.
In one embodiment, during the telephone conversation, the VoIP
application displays the rate (261) for the advisor (e.g., $15.00
for 15 min), the duration (263) of the call, the remaining minutes
(265) (when applicable), etc. In one embodiment, the VoIP
application also displays the balance amount available in an
account which is designated for paying for the call.
In one embodiment, the entry of the advisor can be added to the
contact collection of the user of the VoIP application in a way
similar to those described for an advertiser entry (e.g.,
automatically add the advisor into the contact list after the
advisor is called).
FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface to manage telephonic contact
information of service providers according to one embodiment of the
present invention.
In one embodiment, the profile page (221) includes a link "Add to
Answers Contacts" (235) which can be selected to add the selected
advisor to a personal list of contacts for advisors (241). In one
embodiment, before an entry (e.g., 243) is displayed, the current
information (e.g., prices (e.g., 247), rating (e.g., 245), etc., of
the advisors) are obtained from the advertisement provider. An
entry of the advisor contact shows the name (e.g., 249), rating
(e.g., 245), price (e.g., 247), etc.
In one embodiment, an advisor entry can be selected to initiate a
VoIP telephonic connection with the advisor using the VoIP
application (e.g., using the button (251) to initiate the call to
the advisor of the selected, expanded entry.
FIGS. 10-11 illustrate screen images of a VoIP application for
managing advertisements according to embodiments of the present
invention.
In one embodiment, the user of the VoIP application can also be an
advisor in the advisor providing system. The user can be presented
as an advisor. Using the "My Advisor Info" tab (271), the user can
enter the information about the user as an advisor for the network.
The advisor information is collected to present in listings and on
profile page. In one embodiment, the advisor information includes
title (e.g., a name) (273), description (275), rate (e.g., prices)
(277), photo (279), categories (281) of the advice service.
In one embodiment, the VoIP application uses the application
program interface (API) of the advisor listing provider (e.g.,
Ingenio) to create listings within the VoIP application.
In one embodiment, an extensive reporting suite provides the VoIP
application and the advertiser the tools to see how their listings
are performing and make adjustments to maximize their Return on
Investment (ROI), as illustrated in the example image (301).
FIG. 12 illustrates a system to display and manage advertisements
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a telephonic apparatus
(401) is capable to place and/or receive a VoIP call through the
connection to the communication network (403). The communication
network may include a telephone network (e.g., for providing an
Internet connection), a computer network, a wireless communication
network, etc.
In one embodiment, the telephone apparatus (401) includes a VoIP
module (413) coupled with a user interface module (411) and a
communication module (417) to provide the VoIP telephonic function.
In one embodiment, the telephone apparatus (401) can operate to
make VoIP calls to other telephonic apparatuses (e.g., 409) without
activating the remote API access module (415) and communicating
with the advertisement server (405).
In one embodiment, the telephonic apparatus (401) further includes
a remote API access module (415) coupled with the user interface
module (411) and the communication module (417) to provide access
to advertisements. Thus, the access to the advertisements, such as
yellow page information and telephonic based service listings, can
be conveniently obtained from the user interface of the telephonic
apparatus (401).
In one embodiment, the advertisement server (405) provides services
access to a search engine (423), a bidding service (425) and an
advertisement database (427) through an API gateway (421). The
search engine (423) can perform a search on the advertisement
database (427) according to user specified search terms. The
bidding service (425) can provide competitive bidding information
on similar advertisements/service listings.
The API gateway (421) may be implemented using a hypertext transfer
protocol (HTTP) server, or a communication server that uses other
types of communication protocols. The data may be transferred in a
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format, or an Extensible Markup
Language (XML) format, or a custom designed format.
In one embodiment, the telephonic apparatus (401) uses the remote
API access module (415) to submit search requests to the search
engine (423) over the communication network (403), retrieve the
search results from the API gateway (421), and display the search
results in the user interface of the telephonic apparatus.
In one embodiment, the telephonic apparatus (401) displays the
advertisements but not the telephonic contact information.
Telephonic contact information is when the user requests to call
the advertiser of the advertisement.
In one embodiment, no telephonic contact information is transmitted
to the telephonic apparatus with the advertisements. Instead, the
telephonic contact information for calling the advertiser is
retrieved from the advertisement server in a just-in-time fashion
after the user requests to call the advertiser who is identified by
an identifier embedded in the advertisement or the corresponding
identification of the advertisement.
Alternatively, no telephonic contact information is transmitted to
the telephonic apparatus for the advertisements. Instead, the user
requests to call the advertiser, the telephonic contact information
of the telephonic apparatus is transmitted to the API gateway (421)
together with an identifier of the advertiser or an identifier of
the advertisement. The advertisement server (405) then arranges a
call back to the telephonic apparatus to connect the telephonic
apparatus (401) to a telephonic apparatus of the advertiser.
It is understood that various modules of the telephonic apparatus
can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of
hardware and software. For example, the VoIP module may be
implemented partially using a software program which is to be
executed in a microprocessor to assemble/dissemble data packets, to
perform data compression/decompression, etc. Alternatively, these
functions can be implemented using an Application-Specific
Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or a Field-Programmable Gate Array
(FPGA).
FIG. 13 illustrates a method to display advertisements according to
one embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 13, an advertisement is presented (501) on a VoIP phone
terminal (e.g., in response to one or more search terms submitted
from the phone terminal, such as a search term for service category
and another search term for a geographic area of the services). In
one embodiment, the advertisement includes a reference to a phone
contact of an advertiser of the advertisement. The reference may be
a direct phone number of the advertiser, or an indirect phone
number of a routing server which is assigned to the advertiser, or
a VoIP application user ID of the advertiser, or an indirect VolP
application user ID of a routing server which is assigned to the
advertiser, or an identifier of the advertiser, or an identifier of
the advertisement, etc.
After a user indication to place a call to the advertiser is
received (503), the reference to the phone contact of the
advertiser of the advertisement is transmitted (505) to a server;
and a VoIP phone connection with the server is established (507).
The VoIP phone connection between the server and the VoIP terminal
may be initiated by the VoIP terminal or the server. The reference
to the phone contact may be transmitted through initiate the VoIP
phone connection or through a separate data transmission from the
VoIP terminal to the server. The server further connects the VoIP
phone connection to a phone of the advertiser according to the
reference.
In one embodiment, the phone connection between the VoIP terminal
and the phone of the advertiser is monitored (509) at the
server.
In one embodiment, an amount for the phone connection according to
a price specified by the advertiser is charged (511). For example,
the advertiser is charged for the advertisement on a per call
basis; or a portion of fee collected for the advertiser who charges
the caller for rendering a service over the phone connection is
deducted as the fee to provide the service to make the phone
connection.
FIG. 14 illustrates a further method to display advertisements
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 14, an advertisement is retrieved (601) from a server
(e.g., in response to a user submitting one or more keywords to
initiate a search for contact information, such as searching a
phone directory or service listings) and presented (603) on a VoIP
phone terminal. The advertisement includes a reference to a phone
contact of an advertiser of the advertisement, such as a direct
phone number of the advertiser, or an indirect phone number of a
routing server which is assigned to the advertiser, or a VoIP
application user ID of the advertiser, or an indirect VoIP
application user ID of a routing server which is assigned to the
advertiser, or an identifier of the advertiser, or an identifier of
the advertisement, etc.
After a user indication is received (605) on the VoIP phone
terminal to place a call to the advertiser, a VoIP phone call is
initiated (607) to a phone of the advertiser according to the
reference.
In one embodiment, the phone connection between the VoIP terminal
and the phone of the advertiser is monitored (609) at the VoIP
phone terminal.
The call information about the phone connection is transmitted
(611) from the VoIP phone terminal to the server. The call
information may include time, duration, advertiser, and/or a
reference associated with the advertisement, etc. Based on the call
information about the phone connection, an amount for the phone
connection is charged (613) according to a price specified by the
advertiser (e.g., charge the advertiser for the advertisement on a
per phone lead basis, and/or deduct a portion of fee collected for
the advertiser who charges the caller for rendering a service over
the phone connection).
FIG. 15 shows a method to manage an advertisement according to one
embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 15, a user interface is presented (701) on a VoIP phone
terminal to manage an advertisement. An identify of the VoIP phone
terminal is provide (703) to a server to identify an account of
advertisement on the server.
After user input from the user interface displayed on the VoIP
phone terminal is received (705) to generate information specifying
an aspect of an advertisement maintained in the account (e.g.,
price, description, etc.), the information specifying the aspect of
the advertisement is transmitted (707) from the VoIP phone terminal
from the user interface to the server.
In one embodiment, the identify of the VoIP phone terminal (e.g., a
phone number of the VoIP phone terminal or a user ID of the VoIP
Phone terminal) is provided (709) (e.g., automatically) to the
server as the phone contact information associated with the
advertisement.
FIG. 16 shows a method to manage telephonic contact information
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
An advertisement retrieved from a server is presented (801) in a
user interface (e.g., on a VoIP terminal). After a user input is
received in the user interface to save the contact information of
the advertisement (e.g., selecting a link or button designed to be
selected to at least save the phone contact of the advertisement),
a reference to the advertisement is stored (e.g., in the contact
list of the VoIP terminal) as at least part of contact information
of the advertiser.
In one embodiment, a list of contact entries can be displayed (807)
for a plurality of persons including an entry for the advertiser.
In response to a user input selecting the entry for advertiser, a
current version of the advertisement is retrieved (809) from the
server and displayed (811) in the user interface.
In one embodiment, the actual phone contact information of the
advertiser is not displayed, stored, or even transmitted to the
VoIP terminal. The current version of the advertisement provides
the means for the VoIP terminal to start the telephone connection,
as in certain embodiments described above.
In one embodiment, the user devices/phones support one or more real
time communication capabilities, such as VoIP using Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP) which may support video and
instant-messaging applications, IP phone, regular phone over VoIP
service, Bluetooth wireless phone, USB phone, software based phone,
and other forms of IP telephony.
FIG. 17 shows a block diagram example of a data processing system
which may be used with the present invention.
While FIG. 17 illustrates various components of a computer system,
it is not intended to represent any particular architecture or
manner of interconnecting the components. Other systems that have
fewer or more components may also be used with the present
invention.
In FIG. 17, the communication device (951) is a form of a data
processing system. The system (951) includes an inter-connect (952)
(e.g., bus and system core logic), which interconnects a
microprocessor(s) (953) and memory (958). The microprocessor (953)
is coupled to cache memory (954) in the example of FIG. 17.
The inter-connect (952) interconnects the microprocessor(s) (953)
and the memory (958) together and also interconnects them to a
display controller and display device (957) and to peripheral
devices such as input/output (I/O) devices (955) through an
input/output controller(s) (956). Typical I/O devices include mice,
keyboards, modems, network interfaces, printers, scanners, video
cameras and other devices which are well known in the art.
The inter-connect (952) may include one or more buses connected to
one another through various bridges, controllers and/or adapters.
In one embodiment the I/O controller (956) includes a USB
(Universal Serial Bus) adapter for controlling USB peripherals,
and/or an IEEE-1394 bus adapter for controlling IEEE-1394
peripherals.
The memory (958) may include ROM (Read Only Memory), and volatile
RAM (Random Access Memory) and non-volatile memory, such as hard
drive, flash memory, etc.
Volatile RAM is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) which
requires power continually in order to refresh or maintain the data
in the memory. Non-volatile memory is typically a magnetic hard
drive, a magnetic optical drive, or an optical drive (e.g., a DVD
RAM), or other type of memory system which maintains data even
after power is removed from the system. The non-volatile memory may
also be a random access memory.
The non-volatile memory can be a local device coupled directly to
the rest of the components in the data processing system. A
non-volatile memory that is remote from the system, such as a
network storage device coupled to the data processing system
through a network interface such as a modem or Ethernet interface,
can also be used.
In one embodiment, a server data processing system as illustrated
in FIG. 17 is used as one of the server(s) (e.g., 405 in FIG.
12).
Further, a user terminal as a client system can be a data
processing system similar to the system of FIG. 17. A client system
can be in the form of a PDA, a cellular phone, a notebook computer
or a personal desktop computer. For example, the I/O devices of the
user device may include a USB phone, a Bluetooth wireless phone, or
one or more speakers or headphones with one or microphones for the
implementation of a software based phone.
Alternatively, the traditional communication client(s) may be used
in some embodiments of the present invention.
From this description, it will be appreciated that certain aspects
of the invention are embodied in the user devices, certain aspects
of the invention are embodied in the server systems, and certain
aspects of the invention are embodied in a system as a whole.
Embodiments of the present invention can be implemented using
hardware, programs of instruction, or combinations of hardware and
programs of instructions.
In general, routines executed to implement the embodiments of the
invention may be implemented as part of an operating system or a
specific application, component, program, object, module or
sequence of instructions referred to as "computer programs. The
computer programs typically comprise one or more instructions set
at various times in various memory and storage devices in a
computer, and that, when read and executed by one or more
processors in a computer, cause the computer to perform operations
necessary to execute elements involving the various aspects of the
invention.
While some embodiments of the invention have been described in the
context of fully functioning computers and computer systems, those
skilled in the art will appreciate that various embodiments of the
invention are capable of being distributed as a program product in
a variety of forms and are capable of being applied regardless of
the particular type of machine or computer-readable media used to
actually effect the distribution.
Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited to
recordable and non-recordable type media such as volatile and
non-volatile memory devices, read only memory (ROM), random access
memory (RAM), flash memory devices, floppy and other removable
disks, magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media (e.g.,
Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks,
(DVDs), etc.), among others. The instructions may be embodied in
digital and analog communication links for electrical, optical,
acoustical or other forms of propagated signals, such as carrier
waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.
A machine readable medium can be used to store software and data
which when executed by a data processing system causes the system
to perform various methods of the present invention. The executable
software and data may be stored in various places including for
example ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory and/or cache.
Portions of this software and/or data may be stored in any one of
these storage devices.
In general, a machine readable medium includes any mechanism that
provides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a form
accessible by a machine (e.g., a computer, network device, personal
digital assistant, manufacturing tool, any device with a set of one
or more processors, etc.).
Aspects of the present invention may be embodied, at least in part,
in software. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a
computer system or other data processing system in response to its
processor, such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of
instructions contained in a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM,
non-volatile memory, cache or a remote storage device.
In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in
combination with software instructions to implement the present
invention. Thus, the techniques are not limited to any specific
combination of hardware circuitry and software nor to any
particular source for the instructions executed by the data
processing system.
In this description, various functions and operations are described
as being performed by or caused by software code to simplify
description. However, those skilled in the art will recognize what
is meant by such expressions is that the functions result from
execution of the code by a processor, such as a microprocessor.
Although some of the drawings illustrate a number of operations in
a particular order, operations which are not order dependent may be
reordered and other operations may be combined or broken out. While
some reordering or other groupings are specifically mentioned,
others will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and
so do not present an exhaustive list of alternatives. Moreover, it
should be recognized that the stages could be implemented in
hardware, firmware, software or any combination thereof.
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described
with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will
be evident that various modifications may be made thereto without
departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set
forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are,
accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a
restrictive sense.
* * * * *
References